The present invention relates to mooring devices for securing a boat to a piling, cleat, or other element of a dock, and more particular, to a spring line assembly, which is easy and convenient to handle and enables a boater to quickly moor and secure a boat.
Operators of boats are often faced with the task of safely and easily bringing boats to a stop adjacent to a dock and then trying to moor the boat with suitable docking lines or ropes. In the past, a boater had to often cast or throw a loose line to a person on the dock or attempt to throw a loop formed at the end of the line around the post or piling in order to secure the boat to the dock. As an alternative, boaters can use boat hooks to grapple for a post, while at the same time, attempt to keep the boat from smashing against the post. These prior methods are unreliable and often result in damage to the operator's boat or other boats that may be docked nearby.
Additionally, when the boat is moored to a dock and/or piling, via a rope around one of the boat's cleats attached to the dock, the rope generally has limited stretching capabilities. Thus, if the boat rocks and moves away from the dock, then the rope may become taut and pressure may be then put on the hull of the boat, especially at the location of the tied cleat. This may cause undesirable stress and fractures in the hull. Additionally, if the boat is secured too tightly, the boat will have greater and more frequent impacts with the dock. If the boat is secured too loosely to the dock, it is able to gain momentum before collision with the dock, allowing damage to the boat and/or dock. Wakes created by passing boats, persons moving about on the boat, or waves, will generally cause the boat to impact the docking object and/or place stress on the rope.
Marine bumpers may be used to cushion the boat from impact with the dock and/or pilings. These bumpers are generally placed between the boat and the docking object to dampen the impact between the two objects. However, there may still remain some stress applied to the boat cleats or some damage due to the impact of the boat, despite the use of marine bumpers.
To further explain the force that a boat receives while docked, a great deal can be explained by examining the mooring line used to moor a boat. It is very well known that the wake from a passing vessel or waves causes the mooring lines of the boat to first relax, gather some slack, and then, as the wave ebbs, the lines become taut, imparting a shock in the line, which is transmitted to the boat itself. The shocks applied are disruptive, as well as having deleterious effects on the mooring lines, boat, and dock. Repeated applications of impact loads gradually stretch and weaken the mooring lines, and can damage the boat and docking objects.
Therefore, there is a current need for an apparatus that is easy to use and has shock-absorbing qualities to help facilitate the safe mooring of a boat to a dock.